by Joy Elbel
My heart almost pounded through my chest. We never had to worry about tornados in Trinity and frankly the mere thought of one scared the crap right out of me. I cuddled Coco to me and held onto Zach with an iron grip. After everything I endured at the mansion, this was the most frightening by far.
We scrambled down the stairs, through the kitchen, and into the cellar. The cobwebs that seemed so unwelcoming a few weeks earlier now embraced us warmly. Zach bolted the door behind us, and planted himself squarely against it, panting heavily.
“Andy called me just after you came inside,” he said through gasping breaths. “A line of tornados just hit about fifty miles east of here and they’re heading this way. Andy said we should ride it out down here—then the line went dead.”
“Oh my God!” Coco jumped from my arms and I threw myself into his. “I’m so scared! I hope everyone else is somewhere safe!”
“From what Andy said, the storm seems to be hitting too far north to get the casino—it’s Rachel I’m really worried about. That boss of hers is a shitass—I could see him saying they had to wait for the fryers to be done before he would let them take cover. She wanted to blow off work tonight, but I guilted her into going. If anything happens to her….”
I could feel him shaking in my arms and it made me even more frightened than I already was. I wanted to tell him that everything would be alright, but I had such a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I felt like I did when I realized the bridge was collapsing and I thought I was going to die. I couldn’t lose Zach—I would never recover from something so tragic. Once was horrible, twice would be insurmountable.
We held each other there in the musty basement as gale force winds swirled around the mansion. “I’m so sorry! I never should have made you drive me here in this weather. It’s my fault!”
“Don’t apologize—you may have saved our lives! This house has a much better chance of withstanding the storm than our house does. This is the safest place we could be. I just wish Rachel were here with us.” His face was pale with worry. “So take my mind off of it—show me what’s in your hand.”
I didn’t even realize I was still clutching the red satin pajamas until I looked at my clenched fist. They were crumpled and wrinkled but I shook them out for him to see.
He gave a low whistle. “Whoa. I can’t wait to see you in those.” He tried to sound optimistic, but I knew there was a little part of him that was worried that he would never get a chance to. There was a part of me wondering the same thing.
We stayed in the basement fraught with worry for over an hour. Zach tried to call Rachel every few minutes, but it was wasted time. No service.
“The cell tower must be down.” He checked the time on his phone. “It’s a quarter after seven. The wind seems to have died down. I’m going upstairs to check it out—stay here.
“Be careful! I know you’re worried about Rachel, but getting yourself hurt isn’t going to help her any.”
“Don’t worry. This is no suicide mission—I have a lot to live for, you know.” He kissed me on the cheek before unbolting the door. “I’ll be back in one piece, I promise.”
I sat down on the dusty floor, watching Coco sniff every inch of the basement to pass the time. What seemed like forever turned out to be only minutes. Zach opened the door, smiling.
“We’re good. It’s still raining pretty heavily, but the worst of it has passed. The sky looks normal again and aside from some downed tree limbs, everything’s good. I want to go see if our house is still standing and drive up to the Village to check on Rachel.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” It wasn’t that I didn’t trust his judgment. I just wanted to be positive.
“Come see for yourself—you know I wouldn’t let you go up there if it wasn’t okay.”
That was enough reassurance for me. “Would it be okay if I brought Coco with us? I feel bad leaving her here alone.”
“Sure. Just grab her and we’ll go. I can set up a temporary litter box for her and I’m sure we can find something for her to eat tonight. Sadie and Sequoia love cats so they won’t be a problem.” He held out his hand for me to join him.
“Thanks. I just need a minute to find her. She went back there to explore.” I pointed the flashlight into the dark back corner of the basement.
I could see every inch of the stone floor but Coco was nowhere to be seen. “She was just right there. Where could she be?”
“I don’t know. Are you sure she didn’t follow me upstairs?”
“Positive! She wasn’t anywhere near the door. Oh Zach, I can’t lose her, too!”
“Fine. We’ll stay and look for her.” He sounded worried, but I suspected it had nothing to do with finding the cat.
I knew he was trying to be nice, but he wanted to go check on Rachel and I couldn’t ask him to wait for me. “Zach, go find Rachel—I’ll stay here until you get back.”
He opened his mouth as though to speak, but no words came out.
“I’ll be fine—you said it yourself, the storm’s over. I’ll find Coco and then wait for you upstairs. Go find your sister. I know you’ll be sick with worry until you know she’s safe.”
I knew it was a tough choice for him. But who needed him most—Rachel or me? I watched as he mulled it over in his head.
“Are you sure? I hate to leave you here alone even on a good day. If something happens, you won’t even be able to call me.”
“Nothing will happen. Just go!” There wasn’t a single worry in my mind that I would be anything but perfectly safe.
“Alright. Just find her and get out of this basement. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He hugged me close and gave me an extra squeeze. “Be careful.”
“You, too.” I watched as he closed the door behind him. It was only after he was on the other side of it that I started to change my mind.
37. Secrets Revealed
I stood rooted to the spot long after he left. What was I thinking when I told him to go ahead without me? I must have been crazy. But it was too late now, and I needed to find Coco before he got back. I swallowed my fear and turned slowly on my heel to face the dark corner where I saw her last. I swung the beam of the flashlight back and forth but I still couldn’t see her. I was going to have to go look for her.
Cautiously, I made my way across the basement. The only thing I could see was a large wooden cabinet that looked like it once held bottles of wine. Maybe I would find her asleep on one of the shelves and I could end the search before it barely even started. But when I got to the cabinet, I found something I didn’t want to find. From across the room, it looked like it was flush with the walls on both sides of the corner. In reality, there was a gap on the far side about a foot wide. There was a passage leading back from the main room. I shone the flashlight into the opening. It was a tunnel carved out of the ground, its walls cut roughly out of the earth and just like the one in my dreams.
At the far end, I could see Coco trotting along happily, stopping occasionally to sniff at the walls. I called her name frantically. “Coco! Coco, come here sweetie!” But it seemed that the more I called her name, the more determined she was to keep going. Why couldn’t cats be more like dogs? Dreading the idea, I knew my only choice was to follow her.
I moved quickly through the tunnel trying to catch up with her. But as I walked, I realized that there wasn’t just one passageway down there. There was a whole network of tunnels hidden beneath the mansion. Relics of the past littered the floor. A stack of old plates sat along the one wall, old clothing rotted in a pile along another. I put the clues together and came up with one answer—this house must have been a part of the Underground Railroad. It was built in the right era and Pennsylvania was crucial in the slaves’ flight to freedom. Zach and I had read numerous books and articles about Rosewood—how could we have missed this important fact?
At the end of the main passageway, I could see Coco sniffing at what looked like a pile of old rags on the floor. I crept up slowly hoping to fina
lly catch her. I kept my eyes glued to her tiny body—I couldn’t let her get away again. I placed one foot quietly in front of the other. Snap! I cast the flashlight on my foot to see what I stepped on but instantly regretted it. A large bone protruding from the pile of rags had cracked in half under the weight of my body. I gasped in horror and dropped the flashlight as I leapt backwards and away from this gruesome discovery. The sound of the flashlight’s metal casing as it crashed against the stone floor echoed throughout the tunnel. When the light came to a rest, I saw a skull grinning back at me in the beam.
Shaking with fear, I stretched out my hand to retrieve the light. I grasped it and pulled back quickly aiming the light in another direction. I didn’t want to look at what lay before me in the darkness but I knew I had to. This was the missing piece of the puzzle—it had to be. The body on the floor had to be that of Scarlet’s missing love. It had to be Levi.
Slowly, I moved the light along the floor illuminating the skeleton inch by inch. The fleshless hands were clasped across its chest, the fingers laced in a bony embrace. Under the bones, a stained piece of paper lay folded in their grasp. I pinched the tips of my fingernails together on the corner and tugged gently until it was free. In that moment, I had a full understanding of the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat’. But unlike most people, I knew the second line of that rhyme. ‘But satisfaction brought it back.’ What was on that paper could kill me, but it could also set me free.
As soon as the paper was in my hand, I backed away from the skeleton. I saw bodies like this on TV a million times, but when it was right in front of you—when it was real—it was scary as hell. All I knew was I didn’t want to touch any part of it. I sat down on the floor and unfolded the paper delicately. It was old and fragile so I had to be careful not to damage it. I had to see what was on it—I just had to. Once it was unfolded, I spread it across my legs and turned the beam of the flashlight downward. Silently, I hoped for the answers that I needed.
My Dearest Scarlet,
A part of me wishes that you will never find this letter. Another part of me wishes that I could have the courage to hand it to you personally. I hoped that your love for Levi was a fleeting emotion. But I see now, these so many years later, that it was not. But now, it is too late. I knew of your plans to be with him at the mausoleum that day and I arranged for Alexander to pay you a visit. I went to Levi full of anger and it was a mistake. I never meant for him to come to any harm. I only wanted him to see that your love was not meant to be. I raised my voice to him and then my fist. He tried to escape from me by climbing down into the tunnels. I don’t know precisely how it happened, but he fell. When he didn’t move, I went down to check on him but there was nothing I could do. His neck was broken in the fall and he was with the angels. I feared you would never believe me if I told you the truth, that you would forever believe that I killed him to keep him away from you. So I left his body there in the tunnel and I told you that he had chosen to leave you. I believed that you would forget about him in time and that once the initial sorrow passed, you would move on with Alexander. He loved you so much and he would have made a fine husband for you. But as the years passed and Alexander lost hope, so did I. Your love for Levi was real and I never should have interfered. But it was too late and I had lost you. This secret weighed on my heart more with every passing year. I destroyed your life and for that I want to say I’m sorry. I’m not long for this world. I wish that I could have had the courage to tell you everything years ago. I left this note with your beloved so that if you found him, you would also find the truth.
Your loving father,
JAB
I finished reading the letter in disbelief. The idea that Dr. Baker never told Scarlet the truth was astounding to me. He watched her heart wither and die right before his eyes and he still held his tongue. If she’d known the truth, maybe she would have moved on with her life. Just like I did.
Tired from all of the exploring, Coco curled up beside me to take a nap. It was only then that I realized how long I’d been down there. If Zach came back, he would never know where to find me. I could only imagine the panic that would send him into. I needed to get back upstairs before he got back. I turned the flashlight back down the tunnel. There were so many passageways and I turned the corner several times. I didn’t know the way back out. I wanted to cry.
I turned back to where Levi’s body lay. In the letter, Dr. Baker said that Levi fell down into the tunnel so there must be an exit right above me. I cast the light to the wall behind him and saw the remains of a rope ladder hanging down from the ceiling. And at the top, I saw a wooden door cut into the ground above. I didn’t know where it led, but I knew it was my fastest way out.
Stepping lightly around the skeleton, I made my way to the wall. The door was only about eight feet above the floor, but it might as well have been a mile. I wasn’t sure I could climb it with one hand on the ladder and the other holding Coco, but I was going to give it a try. I tucked her in the crook of my elbow and placed my foot on the bottom rung. The fibers of the rope crunched under my weight but they held together. I hung on tightly as my second foot left the safety of mother earth. One step at a time, I made my way to the top. I balanced Coco on my shoulder so I could have one hand free to push the door open.
Grasping the rope with one hand, I reached up and pushed as hard as I could. The door creaked open slightly then smashed back down. I pounded on it, but it wouldn’t seem to give. The muscles in my arm ached as I hung on but I refused to give up. I couldn’t spend another minute in that tunnel. I had to get out if there was any hope of salvaging my night with Zach. Assuming Rachel was okay, of course. She had to be alright—losing his sister would absolutely kill him. I struggled one more time to open the door. This time it opened a few inches and stayed that way.
I could barely see through the opening but I knew exactly where I was. The doorway led into the garage. I slid Coco through the opening and pushed on the door to create enough room for me to slide out. The door rose a few more inches until it struck something. Peeking through the hole I saw what that something was. It was the underside of Shelly’s car. There was no way that door was going to open any further. If I wanted out, I would have to squeeze through it the way it was. Grabbing onto the edge, I pulled myself up slowly.
The opening wasn’t wide enough. I was never going to get through. Searching for the rope with my foot, I hung there, my arms shaking from the weight of my body pulling me downwards. I couldn’t hang on any longer. My arms finally gave out and I plummeted down.
I closed my eyes as I crashed to the bottom. Landing with a sickening smashing noise, I realized I fell right on top of Levi’s skeleton. I opened my eyes to see the hollow sockets of his sat staring back at me. My face landed on top of where his used to be. Pain racked my body as I flailed around in the pile of shattered bones desperate to get up. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scream, cry or throw up—maybe a little of all three. When I was finally on my feet and feeling less grossed out, an electric charge filled the tunnel and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up straight. A chill filled the air and I knew I wasn’t alone. Scarlet was there with me. And she wasn’t happy. When Scarlet wasn’t happy, I knew all too well what she was capable of. I had to get out of there—fast.
I took off running, prepared to live up to the nickname Rachel gave me. Winding my way through the maze of passageways, I felt a blast of cold air rushing up from behind. As the flashlight bobbled in my hand, I could barely make out more than a few feet in front of me at a time. I was lost and confused but my legs continued to fly across the floor. I had to find a way out or I would surely die down there. And just like Levi, the dampness would engulf me and it would become my grave. I couldn’t die like that—I just couldn’t. The thought of Zach searching but never finding my body ripped my heart out. Surviving long enough to get out of that house was my number one priority. I already found one alternate escape route, there had to be another one. There just had to be.
My heart pounded like it might explode but I had to keep going. My arms were weak from trying to hang on to the trap door and now my legs were starting to feel the same way. How much more could I take before I had to give in, give up? Turning another corner, my foot caught on something and I crashed downward. My chin smashed on the edge of a step sending instant waves of pain through my face. A warm gush of blood oozed from the wound. Pushing myself feebly to me feet, I looked up and saw a steep staircase that seemed to go on forever. Maybe it was my way out.
I pushed onward and up the steps, the air growing colder with each passing second. My body wanted to give up, to surrender to what felt like my inevitable fate. But my heart wouldn’t allow it to. I had something—someone—worth fighting for and I would fight until the last breath to be with him. I was so foolish for all of the time I spent whining over the fact that I couldn’t kiss Zach. Our relationship was worth so much more than any kiss could ever be. I would give anything just to be with him one more time.
I reached the top of the stairs with that goal in mind. Wrenching the door knob violently, I pushed until the rusty hinges gave way. Stumbling inside, I flashed the light around to discern where I was. A headless figure loomed a few feet in front of me and a scream erupted from my throat. It was only when my eyes adjusted to the shadows that I knew exactly where I was. I was in the attic! There was no knob on the inside of the door so we never even realized it was there. The dressmaker’s dummy stood in the same spot where Rachel and I found it. She was right—it was creepy and as soon as this was over that thing was going to find itself on the garbage truck.
Relief swept through my body as I made my way to the entrance to my closet. Rain beat down noisily on the roof but I heard none of the howling wind that sent us into the basement in the first place. How long had Zach been gone? I prayed that when I got downstairs he would be there to meet me. I wedged myself through the hole in the back of my closet thanking my lucky stars that we completely forgot about fixing it.